Music to the rescue
The films released so far this year have not been musical winners at all. There are a couple of good songs each in Azaad, Emergency and Sky Force but none that remain with you after the song and film are over. The only song that makes some mark is the re-created ‘Ae mere watan ke logon’ (the cult non-film track from the 1960s) that is heard in the end credit-titles of Sky Force.
Trivia Tunes: When Jatin-Lalit composed two title songs for two titles of the Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla starrer
As veteran exhibitor Raj Bansal said, “Even in the last two years, the films that did great business had at least one, if not more, hit song—Pathaan, Gadar 2, Jawan, Animal, Stree 2 and even Teri Baton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Bad Newz and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. They made a difference.”
When music comes to the rescue, clearly, there will be no stopping a film. But who will bell the cat(alogue)?
Going beyond Hindi cinema
This malaise of not having proper music in Hindi films that can entice initial viewers and repeat audiences later has some escape avenues: web series and regional cinema, which have still not lost their connectivity with the audience. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have chosen both. Some years back, they excelled in the series Bandish Bandits, still a landmark as well as benchmark in music on OTT. After triumphs like Katyar Kaljat Ghusli (2015) and Sangeet Maanapman (2025) in Marathi, the music composers are now doing the Punjabi film, Akaal being made by Gippy Grewal.
Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s incredible copy!
I met the octogenarian violinist and shehnai player, Nagesh Surve (who has whistled in hit songs in over thousand films and composes music in Marathi as Rishiraj) and he let me on into an incredible secret! Said Surve, “Do you know where Laxmikant-Pyarelal copied their chartbuster ‘Dafliwale’ (Sargam / 1979) from?” After I was shocked and shook my head, he smiled and answered, “From their own previous 1974 chartbuster ‘Ruk jaana nahin’ (Imtihan)!”
Singing the two mukhdas back-to-back to prove his point, Surve went on, “Such is their ingenuity that even if you hear the two songs back-to-back, you will not realize that the basic notes are the same!”
The genius of Shankar-Jaikishan
Surve also lets on that a common friend would regularly bring records from overseas for Shankar-Jaikishan, from which they would rework Hindi songs in their own way and with their own stamp! He said, “All the records he would bring were of chartbusters in the West, and the S-J song also proved equally huge here! Such was their genius!”
Lata Mangeshkar on L-P and S-J
Which brings me to what Lata Mangeshkar told me about these two massive duos who successively ruled Hindi Film Music from 1950 to 1993: “Shankar-Jaikishan and Laxmikant-Pyarelal were composers who left a lot to me. They would tell me that I could do whatever I liked with the harkats and taans. They knew that a singer could contribute a lot to the overall quality of a song and that it was not enough for a composer to break his head over a composition!”
The not-so-known story behind a cult song
When Raj Kapoor was making Shree 420, his favourite musical quartet of Shankar-Jaikishan, Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra would often visit Mumbai’s proximate hill-station, Khandala. The team used to stop on the way at a roadside hotel for tea and snacks. Shanker (familiar with the language, thanks to his long tenure in Hyderabad) would talk to a waiter named Ramaiah in Telugu. On one visit, Ramaiah signalled the composer to wait as he was busy with other customers. Shanker became impatient and started humming the words, ‘Ramaiah vastavaiya, Ramaiah vastavaiya’ meaning “Ramaiah, come quickly!”. Jaikishan began to drum to the beat, and while Hasrat asked, “Only this much, nothing more?” Shailendra instantly said, ‘Maine dil tujhko diya, maine dil tujhko diya’. And Raj Kapoor loved the concept and the team developed the song for a situation created within the film!
…And Jatin-Lalit’s first triumph with Shah Rukh Khan
The excellence of the Jatin-Lalit-Shah Rukh Khan combo is a byword in film music circles. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Yes Boss, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham… are proof of their collaborative excellence, unequalled by any recent team of hero and composer. But it was the brilliant music score of Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman that started their mellifluous journey together. Raju… the film was part-inspired by Shree 420 and this 1992 musical has a different story attached to its songs.
Title-songs were always in vogue and J-L recorded ‘Tu mere saath saath aasman se aagay chal’ because the initial title of the film was Aasmaan Se Aagay. However, after the title was changed, Jatin-Lalit recorded a new title- song ‘Raju ban gaya gentleman’, which became even more popular!
Also Read: Trivia Tunes: When Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan co-composed a song that was later used in Silsila
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